but the, to turn to government for the answer-- government has been cutting jobs. we know that the government especially state/local governments continue to... continue to cut jobs. and i think obama, he mentioned well let's hire more teachers and that, that would certainly alleviate it but, i think a lot of people don't expect government to necessarily solve the jobs problem but it would be nice if government wasn't the job's problem. >> reporter: well, i'm glad you brought that up because one subject that jim lehrer did introduce which is kind of tough to talk about in that forum, even here is the role of government. both men were talking in a very highly contentious way and also in some aspects agreeing about government having a role in the day to day lives of americans. did that help? did that clarify anything? >> for me, it helped soften romney. to hear it right from the horse's mouth that he does believe in the role of government helping in day to day maybe not to the extent of obama does was helpful. >> i think that, you know, if we look at government in the